Stone taught Alyssia how to do all her strokes with one leg. By December, Stone felt Alyssia was good enough to sign up for the United States Paralympic Team, and find a coach.

"It's kind of scary how fast [Alyssia] really is [in the pool]," said Chad.

After that, intense training began. Alyssia trained for two hours a day and competed on the weekends.

"That's when we realized her times would qualify her for the Olympic Trials," said Chad.

All of the sudden, Alyssia was faced with another big choice in her life, and it involved swimming for distance.

"The 500 freestyle," Karen said proudly.

"Alyssia said, 'put me down for [the 500 freestyle] because I want to swim it,'" said Karen, recalling her conversation. "Coach said, 'do you know how many laps that is?'"

Karen said Alyssia knew exactly how many laps it was, but she wanted to swim it anyway.

What made Alyssia's choice to swim the 500-meter freestyle so intriguing is that she'd never swam more than the 150 meters.

"The first time she swam it, she did it in seven minutes," Karen said.

The paralympic time standard is eight minutes.

After that, the Crooks started getting mail from the United States Olympic Committee, saying Alyssia is on the "long-list" as an emerging paralympian.

In May, 2012, the unbelievable started to become believable when Alyssia was invited to the "G-TAC Disability Open" in Cincinnati, Ohio. She was one of 175 swimmers from ten different countries, each looking to earn international classification by the Paralympic Committee.

"[Alyssia] is one of our new up and comer athletes," said Dave Denniston, a United States Paralympic coach. "She's on her way to doing some really good things."

Alyssia participated in seven events at G'TAC. In three of them, her times were close to the paralympic standards. In the 50-meter breaststroke, she managed a first place finish.

All in all, it wasn't bad for the one year anniversary of her amputation.

"I think losing this leg was probably the best thing that ever happened to her," said Chad Crook. "I wouldn't say she lost a leg; I'd say she gained a life."

The next stop for Alyssia Crook?

"We're hopeful for 2016 and Rio de Janeiro," said Chad. "My feeling is in four years, she'll be fine."

Because what she's doing beneath the surface is making waves above the surface, catching the eye of the U.S. Olympic Committee, meaning she could be representing our country in four short years.

Alyssia will be our of the pool for a good chunk of this summer because she's having reconstructive foot surgery. During that time, her swim coach will have her on a strict workout schedule so she can build up her muscles. She plans to travel to California in October and compete in the Pan-Am Games, where if she can trim down her swim times, she'll have a great shot at earning one of 60 invitations to the United States Paralympic Team.